


You Can't Run From Fear

by AussieHighlandLass



Category: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2012-2013)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:54:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25045708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AussieHighlandLass/pseuds/AussieHighlandLass
Summary: Laura had never had an easy life. Growing up in the Narrows assured that. Still, she was pretty sure that that wasn't a good enough reason for getting involved with the man responsible for all of Gotham suffering.
Relationships: Bane (DCU)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	You Can't Run From Fear

**Author's Note:**

> I always loved Bane; and not just because he was a gorgeous example of man. So, I wanted to write a fanfiction where Bane actually got the chance I believe he deserved. Like my other fics, I am not promising a specific posting schedule. I'm sorry if this upsets people but this is a form of therapy for me and one I don't want to ruin by making myself stress over keeping to a schedule. Anyway, with that said, I do hope you enjoy and please don't forget to leave kudos and comment :)

_"Take Michael and run, Laura! Just run!" her husband shouted as the mist rolled further into the Narrows, pushing their one-year old son into her shaking embrace. People were screaming and running and fighting. It was hectic and there was no escape. Gotham PD had made sure there was no escape because the lives of those who lived in the Narrow weren't nearly as important as the more 'well off' of Gotham City._

_The woman gave her husband one last frightened glance before she did as she was told. She ran. She kept running; even as her husband's scream pierced the air, even as the mist surrounded her on all sides, even when her lungs burned, and her eyes began to play tricks on her. Laura ran. She ran until her lungs felt like they were going to burst, and her legs felt like jelly, but it still wasn't enough._

_The shadows played tricks on her eyes, creating monsters she knew weren't there but frightened her none-the-less as she pulled her crying son closer to her sweat soaked body. Laura ran down the alley closest to the crappy apartment she and her husband rented; the only thing they could afford even in an area like the Narrows. However, she was forced to a stop when her path was suddenly blocked by two men. Their eyes were hollow and filled with maggots, their mouths were missing, and their skin was sallow and glistening with sweat._

_"It's not real," she told herself as she pulled Michael incredibly closer, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath even as she started taking steps back so she could get out of the alley and take the long way around to their apartment. "It's not real," she repeated, opening her eyes just in time to duck as one of the men made to grab her. Okay, so the danger was very real, but the hallucination definitely wasn't._

_Laura ducked around the first man and feigned around the second before she made another run for it. She just needed to get back to the apartment, then she could barricade herself and her son in and pray for all of this to be over soon. Of course, theory was always easier than practical application and Laura cried out when she was roughly tugged back by her hair. Her son's screams mixed with her own as she was pulled into a large body as a slightly smaller, but no less menacing, body appeared in front of her._

_She didn't waste time; her mother had always taught her that wasting time being scared got you killed in a place like the Narrows. Laura kicked out at the man in front of her, hearing his pained cry as her boot connected with his groin. She quickly adjusted her son before sending one of her elbows into the ribs of the man holding her by the hair and heard him grunt. Laura ran forward, screaming as some of her hair was ripped out._

_The shot was loud in her ears, the ringing almost enough to drown out her scream as the bullet pierced her son through the head. Laura fell to her knees, not even registering the pain that shot up her legs as she brought her son down so that she could try and staunch the bleeding. A part of her mind had already come to terms with the fact her son was dead but the mother in her wouldn't give up on him._

_"Come on, baby," she cried as the blood ran through her shaking fingers, "you're gonna be fine."_

_A meaty hand was suddenly gripping her shoulder before she was being hoisted from the ground and spun around. "No!" she screamed, still cradling her baby protectively, "let me..." she was cut off by her own scream as a knife sliced open her face._

_All at once the wound felt like it was numb and on fire; she knew she needed to staunch the bleeding, but her hand was still pressed against her unmoving son's head. Her legs gave out on her and Laura felt herself falling backwards._

_Everything after that was a blur but Laura would forever remember the black figure that had saved and damned her that night and the first and last words, she would ever speak to him._

_"Save him."_

* * *

Laura reared up from her lumpy cot with a strangled gasp, her eyes wide and unseeing as she blinked owlishly. Slowly, her bedroom began to come into view, and she looked around unsteadily, her breathing labored and her heart threatening to beat out of her heaving chest. She hadn't dreamed of that night in years and it unsettled her more than it scared her anymore. When she had first started having them, Laura had attempted to stay awake for as long as she could, but she usually ended up losing the battle. So, she had decided one day that if she couldn't avoid her fear, she would simply have to make herself _fearless_.

So, she had. It had taken her years to perfect but now, Laura had no fear. Whenever she was confronted with a new fear, she would spend days facing it until she no longer feared it. Eventually, she had run out of things to be afraid of. Until _he_ had come to Gotham and turned her world on its head.

It started with being a public menace; she had watched that high speed motorcycle chase on the news. A part of her had been fascinated by the whole thing before she had reminded herself that normal people weren't supposed to find stuff like that fascinating. She just couldn't help it; Laura had always found the strangest things interesting and this new group of thugs was definitely interesting. Interesting and dangerous.

Of course, the worst of it came when Bane had decided to cut Gotham off from the rest of the world; not just that, but he had literally buried the entirety of Gotham PD save for a few unfortunate cops who had managed to avoid their colleagues fate. Then, prisoners from Blackgate were set free and suddenly the streets were more chaotic than ever. People were killing, looting, raping, fighting. All of Gotham had essentially become the Narrows virtually overnight and the privileged were finally getting a taste of what it had been like to grow up in the worst area of Gotham City.

Laura was more than happy to stay out of everyone's way. She only left her apartment to get food and even then, she was incredibly careful where she went. She kept to herself; didn't get involved with any of the conflicts of the streets. Knowing the only way to stay alive was to stay out of everyone else's business.

However, that carefully constructed plan came to a very abrupt end one night as she was walking home from getting a few cans of spaghetti and some cup-o-noodles, a rare treat these days, to last a few more days; a couple weeks if she rationed everything like she had been doing. Unfortunately, and quite stupidly, she hadn't seen the group of thugs hiding in the alley not far from her apartment. Ironic really, that she'd be attacked in the very alley where she had lost everything.

Things were different though. _She_ was different now. Laura had grown from that scared twenty-two-year old woman into a woman who feared _nothing_ and now knew enough basic self-defense to keep herself safe. Still, one against seven wasn't in anyone's favor let alone a woman standing no bigger than five feet, three inches and barely weighing a hundred and thirty pounds. Even if most of her body weight consisted of muscle; or, at least, is had before all this shit had happened. Food had been scarce before Bane had come to Gotham; now, it was a miracle she could still find enough food to keep her body in shape.

With that said, these guys were at least double or triple her height and weight and she was officially screwed. Laura would go down swinging though; she'd be damned if she just took her fate like some helpless damsel waiting for a hero to swing in a save her life. Not again. _Never_ again.

One of the men, obviously the leader if the way the men seemed to defer to him was anything to go by, whistled loudly and obnoxiously as Laura tried to walk past the alley. Usually she'd cut right through the alley, trying to ignore the flashes of images she would see as she did, but it would seem she was stuck taking the long route tonight. She wasn't stupid, she knew she was outnumbered.

"Hey, baby," the man's slimy voice reached her ears moments before large fingers wrapped around her arm and practically tossed her into the alley. Laura stumbled for a moment before she managed to right herself, her lips stretching into a sneer as she straightened her clothes and turned to look at the group of men that were now moving to trap her in a circle.

Another man, this one tall and almost willowy in build, spotted her face in the dim light the moon provided, and she saw him recoil. She wasn't surprised, everyone she met recoiled once they caught sight of her disfigured face. The thug who had attacked her all those years ago had managed to slice up the right side of her face. The long, jagged scar went from her shoulder to her neck, just below her ear, right through the middle of her cheek before it stopped at the bridge of her nose. Some parts were thicker than others, but every part of her scar made people uncomfortable.

Laura used to cover it before she realised that doing so was because she had feared the rejection of others. After that, she refused to cover her scar and would catch anyone who passed her on the street throwing her horrified or disgusted looks before they hurried past her.

"Damn, girl," came another voice and Laura turned around to see a beefy man eying her face closely, "the fuck happen to ya face?"

"How about you come here, and I'll show you?" she goaded him, needing them to break the circle around her, as a blade slipped out of the sleeve of her flannel shirt. Laura wasn't stupid, she knew better than to walk around the streets without a means to defend herself with. Sure, she had hoped she wouldn't have to use it, but that didn't mean she was averse to using it if it meant she survived the encounter.

Another deep chuckle had her turning on the spot to face an equally beefy man, his lips turned up in a leering grin. "It's okay, princess," he chuckled, palming his crotch as he continued to grin at her, "you don't need to look pretty for what we got planned for you."

Her grip on the blade tightened at his words as she spread her feet to give her more balance. "That's not gonna happen, fellas," she answered, her body in a constant state of motion as she tried to keep the men in her sight. She didn't want to be blindsided by any of them, but Laura was already fighting a losing battle and the fight hadn't even started yet. "Let me go and no one gets hurt," she continued, hoping they would heed her warning because she knew she wouldn't be making it out of this alley a second time if she needed to engage any of them in an actual fight.

When they merely laughed, Laura knew there was no way she was going to get out of this without spilling blood. She shrugged, her body preparing to attack as she glanced to the willowy man; he was the smallest and likely the weakest of the group. Perhaps, if she wounded him, she could use the distraction to run.

It was a stupid plan at best and downright suicidal at worst, but she saw no other options. Laura jumped forward, surprising all of them as she brought her blade down and into the neck of the smallest man. His eyes were wide as he gurgled and coughed up some blood before he fell to his knees. Laura took the stunned silence as an opportunity to run, bolting out of the alley and turning down the street heading _away_ from her apartment. She didn't want them knowing where she lived; she'd have no choice but to _try_ and kill them all just to prevent the backlash on her if that happened.

It was past the enforced curfew and the streets were basically bare which made the pounding feet behind her sound much louder than they would have before Gotham fell. Her breathing was labored after seven blocks, but the thugs showed no signs of stopping or slowing down so nor did she. As she ran, Laura started to form a plan; she needed to get them somewhere familiar, somewhere she could hide until they gave up or pick them off one by one.

Her mind instantly flashed to the warehouses down by the docks she used to play in when she was little; they were abandoned and decrepit, but she had loved letting her imagination run wild while she was there. She'd even pretended to be James Bond at one point so she knew there were enough hiding places there that the thugs wouldn't easily find her.

So, she ran faster. Her lungs burned and her body protested but she still ran. She ran through the pain as if she couldn't feel it when, in reality, it was all she felt. But pain meant she was still alive, so she relished it.

The docks were darker than usual, but Laura was used to seeing into dark places and she easily maneuvered her way through the area before she bolted into a familiar warehouse.

And straight into a room full of Bane's henchmen.

_Well, fuck me,_ she thought to herself as she skidded to a halt just as every pair of eyes moved to look at her. "Uh, hi?" she said, waving gingerly at the men who quickly grabbed their guns and raised them at her. Laura raised her hands in surrender as her eyes darted around the room for anything, she might be able to use to distract them so she could escape.

Just then, one of the thugs ran in, his gun raised and pointed straight at her. He seemed oblivious to the armed men in the room as he glared at her. "Found you, ya ugly bitch," he growled as he moved forward.

"Knew you would," she smiled happily, bouncing over to him and making his eyes widen at the sudden change in her behavior. Laura simply grinned wider and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her chin on his chest as she looked up at him. "I know you said sex at the docks after curfew would be fun, babe, but we have company," she told him slyly. She watched as his eyebrows furrowed before his gaze moved from her to the room full of men and she smirked when she watched him pale.

Before he could do or say anything, Laura grabbed the gun out of his hand and pointed it at the nearest henchmen. She fired quickly, the bullet piercing through his leg and making him fall to his knees with a pained grunt. "That looks like it stung," she said, faux wincing before she quickly ducked behind the thug as the men opened fire on them. She ran for the door and made it just as the thug dropped, his chest and torso riddled with bullets. Laura knew any normal person would have felt remorse or pity for the man, but she felt nothing more than sick satisfaction. He had wanted to kill her but, in the end, she had been the direct cause for his own demise.

Of course, now she had at least a dozen of Bane's henchmen after her as well as the five thugs left from the alley. If they were smart, they would have heard the shots and run for their lives. However, when she saw three of the five come running around the corner with their own guns ready, Laura knew they were as stupid as they looked. They raised their guns the moment they saw her, but Laura was already firing. She let off two shots and, though they didn't hit anyone, they did make the men scatter long enough for her to run into another warehouse.

When she believed herself to be significantly hidden, Laura finally allowed her body to collapse from exhaustion. She fell to the ground in an undignified heap as she breathed deeply; her hand was over her mouth to muffle the sound just in case any of the men currently pursuing her happened to come in. There were a lot of buildings around this area and she hoped they split up to look for her; it'd make avoiding them easier. She also kind of hoped they'd deal with the thugs so she wouldn't have to. Right now, all she wanted to do was go home and have a long sleep.

She had been hiding for five minutes when a shot rang out just outside the door and she looked over the crate she was hiding behind to see one of Bane's henchmen stumble into the warehouse, a bullet hole in his leg as a thug walked in behind him. Laura's eyes narrowed at the man; it was the one who had made the comment about not needing to be pretty for what they had planned. Her grip on the stolen gun tightened as she watched him smile smugly at the injured man.

"Look at this," he mocked, "Barsad, Bane's right-hand man, reduced to nothing more than my _bitch_."

Her ears perked at the words he spoke as she looked to the man now leaning against another crate as he tried to keep himself standing. He was breathing heavily but still managed to level the thug with a chilly glare. His gun was gone, she noticed, and his knife wasn't really within reach; not without the thug seeing him reach for it anyway.

"You wish," he chuckled, the sound labored by pain and Laura cocked her head curiously as she watched him. It was strange to see someone facing death and not begging for his or her life. This Barsad seemed more amused by the thug with the gun than actually scared of him and it made Laura wonder; if he was the kind of person that became the right-hand man of someone like Bane, than what was his boss like? She'd never had the misfortune of meeting Bane, but whispered rumors said he was intimidating and monstrous.

The thug growled and took a step closer, lifting the gun and pressing it against Barsad's forehead. Laura had begun moving without realizing it; her boots making no noise as she ducked from crate to crate until she was hiding behind a crate with the thugs back to her. The thug was too busy bragging to Barsad that he didn't notice when Laura snuck up behind him.

"I'm going to enjoy this," the thug said to the man in front of him just before Laura placed the warm gun at the base of his neck.

"Not nearly as much as I will," she told him softly as she moved to stand beside him, the gun now resting at his temple. She saw him stiffen and caught the curious glance of Barsad out of the corner of her eye before she grinned. "Drop it," she said. When the thug made no move to lower his gun, she shrugged, "or don't, I'm gonna shoot you anyway so I guess it doesn't matter."

He moved quickly, turning and grabbing her wrist before he held the arm holding the gun away from him as he moved to shove his own gun under her head, pressing it into the soft flesh under her chin. He stepped closer, his pungent breath fanning over her face as he smelt her hair before he lowered his face, so his lips were inches from her own. "Ya lucky I still got plans for ya, princess," he began, his tongue flicking out to taste her lips. He was going to say something else; she could see it in his eyes moments before they clouded over with pain and he stumbled back with a startled cry.

Laura saw the large hunting knife sticking out of his thigh and Barsad leaning more heavily against the crate as he panted heavily. She didn't waste time on mocking the thug like she wanted to; Laura raised her gun, aimed it at his head, and fired. He fell, dead before he even hit the ground, and Laura just stood there looking at him curiously. She's never killed someone before; and she was fairly sure tonight she had done so twice. Laura knew that stab to the neck had been fatal, so it was safe to assume the skinny man was dead back in the alley.

She should have felt more than curiosity and intrigue. Laura wanted to say she was in shock, but she knew she'd be lying if she did. She wasn't in shock, she wasn't numb, she just didn't care. It had been her or him and she had chosen her; she would always choose her. Laura was a survivor and every survivor knew that sometimes you had to get your hands dirty.

"Well," came Barsad's voice, drawing Laura's gaze. He was already looking at her, eyeing the gun in her hand wearily before he managed to hide it with a cocky smirk. "That was unexpected," he finished.

Laura sighed, knowing she couldn't very well kill the man that had just helped her. She took a look at his bleeding leg and felt herself losing the internal battle raging inside of her before she walked over to him. Her arm moved under his as she adjusted him, so she was supporting most of his weight before she led him towards the door and out to the abandoned car she had seen coming into the building.

She just _knew_ she was going to come to regret this decision.

* * *

Barsad had watched curiously as the young woman who had shot one of his men earlier ducked from crate to crate before she stopped behind one that kept her hidden from the asshole currently pointing a gun at his face. His leg felt like it was on fire and Barsad knew he had lost quite a bit of blood. He had no idea how long it would be until he blacked out, but he fought for every second; not willing to be at the mercy of anyone.

He ignored the threats of his demise at the hands of the thug as he looked around the hulking figure to see the small woman creeping up behind the man. Barsad was surprised at how quiet she was; if he hadn't seen her, he never would have known she was in there with them. His eyes dropped momentarily to the gun in her hand, the one she had stolen from the dead thug and had then used to shoot one of his men. Her grip on the weapon was steady and not a tremor was present as she moved forward. He couldn't even see an ounce of fear reflected in her dark eyes from where the moonlight streamed in from a broken window.

"I'm going to enjoy this," the thug said to him just before the woman placed the gun at the base of his neck. Her hands were still steady, and he couldn't even see a bead of sweat as she took a step closer and seemed to straighten her spine.

"Not nearly as much as I will," she told him softly as she moved to stand beside him, the gun now resting at his temple. Her voice was deeper than most women he had met and had a husky tone that most generally reserved for flirting. It took Barsad a moment to realize that was her _actual_ voice; damn, she sounded sexy as hell.

He watched the thug stiffen and watched curiously as the woman merely grinned at the thug, still no fear present on her face or in her eyes. "Drop it," she said. When the thug made no move to lower his gun, the woman shrugged, "or don't, I'm gonna shoot you anyway so I guess it doesn't matter."

She was honest and to the point; her tone of voice uncaring and almost bored as she talked to the thug. This woman was strange for many reasons and Barsad knew Bane would be just as curious as _he_ was to find out more about this woman

The thug moved quickly, turning and grabbing the wrist before he held the arm holding the gun away from him as he moved to shove his own gun under her head, pressing it into the soft flesh under her chin. Barsad watched as he moved closer and began smelling the woman. He expected her to start freaking out, to struggle against his hold or beg him to let her go. She didn't; she didn't move a muscle, not even showing any sign of pain from the tight grip Barsad could see the thug had on her.

"Ya lucky I still got plans for ya, princess," he heard the thug say, saw him lick the woman's lips. Barsad had figured the woman had gotten into trouble with the thugs. It had been obvious by the way the first thug had addressed her.

Unsurprisingly, the thought of what the thug meant made Barsad angry, he was a killer but there was something downright disgusting about a man who would force himself upon a woman, and he used the thugs distraction to reach for the knife in his boot. He gathered his failing strength and raised the knife before bringing it down and into the thug's thigh. The thug stumbled back with a cry of pain and Barsad expected to be shot.

Fortunately for him, the woman didn't hesitate once she was free and shot the thug point-blank in the head, killing him instantaneously. He expected her to finally break down; to start crying about how she had killed someone. She surprised him once more when she simply stared down at the body with curiosity; like it was nothing more than a puzzle she was trying to figure out rather than a person she had just killed. _Yes,_ he thought, _Bane will definitely find her as interesting as I do._

"Well," he finally spoke up, his voice hitched slightly from pain. Blackspots were slowly invading his vision and he knew it wouldn't be long before he succumbed to his wounds and would be at the mercy of the strange woman who was now gazing at him. He masked the weariness he felt with a cocky smirk. "That was unexpected," he finished.

She seemed to study him for a moment before she sighed and made her way over to him. He stiffened, thinking she was going to kill him now that she didn't have to worry about the thug. However, she surprised him by using her arm to hoist him up and lean him against her, so she was taking most of his weight before she led him toward the door of the warehouse.

They made their way over to an abandoned car and she opened the passenger side before helping to ease him onto the seat. He watched curiously as she closed the door and made her way around to the driver's side. "This yours?" he asked even though he already knew the answer.

"No," she replied in that husky tone that would have had him hard had his blood not been rushing further south, "but I'm sure whoever owned it won't mind me using it."

"Got a key?"

He watched her smirk before she promptly hotwired the car, "universal key," she replied before she put the car in gear and began driving them away from the warehouse district.

"You know, this is abducting, right?" he questioned, trying to take his mind off the burning pain in his thigh, "I'm the last man you want to go taking hostage."

She snorted and he found himself surprised by her lack of concern for just who he worked with and for. "Bane can kill me if he wants," she told him honestly, "but your men wouldn't get you back to the city before you bled out. I know a place where we can go to patch you up."

"You know someone who is going to patch _me_ up?" he asked incredulously.

"More or less," she shrugged before they both fell silent.

He didn't know if he should be amused or offended when they stopped at a vet clinic. A vet clinic that just so happened to be _closed_. "I don't think anyone's in," he joked, panting heavily as the woman hoisted him out of the car and practically dragged him behind the building and to a busted in back door.

She was quiet as she led him in to one of the rooms and had him lay down on one of the metal tables before she started rummaging around the room. He watched her silently before she was wheeling a tray over to him. Barsad looked over the things on the tray, everything a doctor would need to fix him up except for the actual doctor.

The woman put on a pair of latex gloves and grabbed a set of scissors before she moved over to him. "I need to cut your pants off, so we don't further aggravate the injury," she informed him as she began untying the laces of his boots. She did it with a proficiency that came from repeatedly doing so. Once his shoes were removed it took her barely a few seconds to have his pants cut and removed from his person.

She didn't say anything about his lack of underwear and simply turned away to grab a blanket for him to cover himself with. "What? Don't wanna at least peak?" he teased as she readied a syringe.

"I've seen bigger," she answered just as quickly, quirking an eyebrow at him as she smirked. Barsad knew he was not small by any means but that didn't mean his ego didn't take a hit at her words. He brushed it off a moment later.

"Haven't you heard the saying 'bigger isn't always better'?"

She leaned closer; her smirk still firmly planted on her face. Her lips were by his ear and Barsad felt himself harden further as her breath fanned over his ear. "I beg to differ," she whispered into his ear, "bigger is _definitely_ better."

Barsad hissed as the needle was pressed into his skin and didn't have time to protest when she pressed down on the plunger. He had thought it was just a mild anaesthetic but when he found himself becoming tired he began to panic. Hands prevented him from getting off the table and her voice washed over him just before everything went dark.

"Don't worry, Barsad, I still owe you for saving my life."

* * *

Bane was furious. His men had been shot at tonight and now Barsad was missing. He had lost six men and the ones who returned had done so sporting their own injuries. Barsad hadn't called and he couldn't get anyone to track the phone because it was a burner. He had been trying to call since he had received word that Barsad had been taken and was just getting ready to go out and tear apart the streets to find him when the call finally picked up.

"Barsad," he began only to be interrupted by the husky tones of a woman.

"Not exactly," she said, her tone clipped, like she was frustrated that he had called in the first place, "Barsad can't come to the phone right now and the incessant buzzing is very distracting when someone is trying to remove a bullet."

Remove a bullet? Was this the woman who had shot one of his men? It was obvious she had Barsad otherwise she wouldn't have been answering his phone. "Where is Barsad?" he questioned sternly, feeling his fist tighten at the idea of some woman torturing one of his men.

"Right in front of me," she answered simply, "but as I said before, he can't come to the phone. It'll take a while for him to wake up, but I'll be sure to let him know you called."

Then, she hung up.

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to clear up that Laura is not fearless like she believes she is. Not wanting to give away some of the story, let's just say that this will be explained within the coming chapters and by Bane no less. Stay tuned.


End file.
